It's a GLOB:

use strict;
use warnings;

my $str;

open my $fileHandle, '>', \$str;

print ref $fileHandle;
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Prints:

GLOB
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\*FH passes a reference to a GLOB to function.

In Perl a file handle is a filehandle type, see Typeglobs and Filehandles

\*FH is a reference to a typeglob, see perlref

It's a good question.

You can get to the underlying integer using fileno(), but that doesn't answer the question of what a file handle is in Perl -- which turns out to be trickier than it looks...

We all know that an identifier in Perl can refer to a SCALAR, an ARRAY, a HASH or a subroutine (CODE) -- and the prefixes $, @, % and & specify which. An identifier can also refer to a file handle (IO) or a FORMAT. An identifier without a prefix generally refers to a subroutine, but in some special contexts it refers to a file handle or a FORMAT.

The unfortunate consequence is that you cannot pass a file handle identifier to a subroutine or store it, because in those contexts an identifier with no prefix is treated as a subroutine.

Now, the collection of all possible values that a name can refer to is known as a GLOB, and the prefix * is used to specify that. You can pass a GLOB and you can store one -- so my $a = *SUE ; makes $a an implicit reference to the GLOB named SUE. You can also pass a reference to a GLOB and store one -- thus my $b = \*SUE ; stores an explicit reference to the GLOB named SUE in $b. The construct *SUE{SCALAR} returns a reference to the SCALAR part of the GLOB named SUE. (The significance of all this may become clear later.) So that:

  use strict ; use warnings ;

  *SUE = \127 ;

  my $a = *SUE ;
  my $b = \*SUE ;

  printf "sex(\$a) = %10s and \${\*{\$a}{SCALAR}} = %d\n", sex($a), ${
+*{$a}{SCALAR}} ;
  printf "sex(\$b) = %10s and \${\*{\$b}{SCALAR}} = %d\n", sex($b), ${
+*{$b}{SCALAR}} ;

  sub sex {
    my ($thing) = @_ ;
    my $sex = ref($thing) ;
    return $sex ? "ref:$sex" : ref(\$thing) ;
  } ;
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prints:

  sex($a) =       GLOB and ${*{$a}{SCALAR}} = 127
  sex($b) =   ref:GLOB and ${*{$b}{SCALAR}} = 127
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so... although $a and $b are not the same as far as ref is concerned, they can both be used as references to the GLOB (just in case we'd forgotten this is Perl).

So a file handle is the IO part of a GLOB. However, where Perl expects a file handle, it will accept a number of things:

• the GLOB which has the required IO part
• a reference to that GLOB
• a FileHandle object (whose underlying type is a GLOB which has the required IO part)
• an IO::Handle object (whose underlying type is a GLOB which has the required IO part)

  use strict ; use warnings ;

  use IO::Handle ;
  use FileHandle ;
  use Scalar::Util qw(reftype) ;

  print "1________________________________\n",
        'open FH, ">&2" ;', "\n" ;
         open FH, ">&2" ;
    show('*FH', *FH) ;
    show('\*FH', \*FH) ;
    show('*FH{IO}', *FH{IO}) ;

  print "\n",
        "2________________________________\n",
        'open my $OUT, ">&2" ; ', "\n" ;
         open my $OUT, ">&2" ;
    show('$OUT', $OUT) ;
    show('*$OUT{IO}', *$OUT{IO}) ;

  print "\n",
        "3________________________________\n",
        'my $ih = new IO::Handle ;', "\n" ;
         my $ih = new IO::Handle ;
  print 'reftype($ih) = ', reftype($ih), "\n" ;
  print 'open $ih, ">&2" ;', "\n" ;
         open $ih, ">&2" ;
    show('$ih', $ih) ;
    show('*$ih{IO}', *$ih{IO}) ;

  print "\n",
        "4________________________________\n",
        'my $fh = new FileHandle ;', "\n" ;
         my $fh = new FileHandle ;
  print 'reftype($fh) = ', reftype($fh), "\n" ;
  print 'open $fh, ">&2" ;', "\n" ;
         open $fh, ">&2" ;
    show('$fh', $fh) ;
    show('*$fh{IO}', *$fh{IO}) ;

  sub show {
    my ($tag, $FH) = @_ ;

    my $can = $FH->can('autoflush') ? "can 'autoflush'" : "can NOT 'au
+toflush'" ;
    my $tst = defined(-t $FH) ? "OK" : 'undef' ;

    printf $FH "  show%-12s => %-18s fileno=%d  test=%-5s  %s\n",
               "($tag)", sex($FH), fileno($FH), $tst, $can ;
  } ;

  sub sex {
    my ($thing) = @_ ;
    my $sex = ref($thing) ;
    return $sex ? "ref:$sex" : ref(\$thing) ;
  } ;
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prints:

  1________________________________
  open FH, ">&2" ;
    show(*FH)        => GLOB               fileno=4  test=OK     can N
+OT 'autoflush'
    show(\*FH)       => ref:GLOB           fileno=4  test=OK     can N
+OT 'autoflush'
    show(*FH{IO})    => ref:FileHandle     fileno=4  test=undef  can '
+autoflush'

  2________________________________
  open my $OUT, ">&2" ;
    show($OUT)       => ref:GLOB           fileno=5  test=OK     can N
+OT 'autoflush'
    show(*$OUT{IO})  => ref:FileHandle     fileno=5  test=undef  can '
+autoflush'

  3________________________________
  my $ih = new IO::Handle ;
  reftype($ih) = GLOB
  open $ih, ">&2" ;
    show($ih)        => ref:IO::Handle     fileno=6  test=OK     can '
+autoflush'
    show(*$ih{IO})   => ref:FileHandle     fileno=6  test=undef  can '
+autoflush'

  4________________________________
  my $fh = new FileHandle ;
  reftype($fh) = GLOB
  open $fh, ">&2" ;
    show($fh)        => ref:FileHandle     fileno=7  test=OK     can '
+autoflush'
    show(*$fh{IO})   => ref:FileHandle     fileno=7  test=undef  can '
+autoflush'
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This shows:

1. The "traditional" file handle, which can be passed or stored as an implied GLOB reference (*FH) or an explicit GLOB reference (\*FH).
   
2. This form of open sets $OUT to be a reference to an anonymous GLOB whose IO part is set -- this is known as an indirect file handle. $OUT can be used everywhere where Perl expects a FILEHANDLE.
   
3. An IO::Handle object is created, which can then be used where a FILEHANDLE is required. Note that the underlying type of the object is a GLOB.
   
4. A FileHandle object is created, which can then be used where a FILEHANDLE is required. Note that the underlying type of the object is a GLOB.
   

This also shows:

• All the things that act as file handles are implicit or explicit references to a GLOB with a suitable IO part, or objects whose underlying type is such a GLOB (or references to an IO value).
• The IO part of a GLOB with a file handle is blessed as a FileHandle
• The file test operators require an implicit or explicit reference to a GLOB with a suitable IO part or an object whose underlying type is such a GLOB. These operators do not work on reference to IO values -- unlike print etc. (If it wasn't quirky, it wouldn't be Perl.)

So... what was the question, again ?

A thing which acts as a FILEHANDLE can have a number of apparently different data types.

I would recommend using $FH "indirect" file handles or IO:Handle objects, which can be passed around or stored in data structures as straightforward scalars. This can be achieved by:

  open my $FH, ..... ;
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or:

  use IO::Handle ;
  open my $FH = new IO::Handle, .... ;
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depending on whether you want the IO:Handle collection of methods to be applicable.

"But what about the special file handles like STDERR and DATA ?", I hear you cry...

The trick here is:

  $STDERR  = \*STDERR ;
  my $DATA = \*DATA ;
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or, if you want the IO::Handle methods:

  $STDERR  = bless \*STDERR, 'IO::Handle' ;
  my $DATA = bless \*DATA,   'IO::Handle' ;
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Noting that the names STDIN, STDOUT and STDERR are special, and refer to main:: variables wherever they are used and are implicitly declared (so no our or my required.)

From deep in Perl's past it is possible to use a scalar string value as a reference to a file handle. Consider:

  no strict ;

  announce(STDERR, "Hello World\n") ;

  sub announce {
    my $FH = shift ;
    print $FH @_ ;
  } ;
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Which looks as though it works by passing the file handle STDERR to the subroutine announce. In fact, what is happening is that (a) the bareword STDERR is passed as a string, and (b) the print treats the contents of $FH as the name of the FILEHANDLE to use (ie as a symbolic reference).

One assumes that in the dim and distant past, this looked like a particularly cunning plan to deal with the problem of passing file handles.

Of course, in modern times use strict ; will whinge like mad about both the bareword and the sybolic reference.